Anchor Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Anchor Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,073,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $65,050,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BX opened at $151.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $161.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.